Too Late, Too Early
by Girls In White Dresses
Summary: Byakuya stood in a train station.  Although, truth to be told, he hadn't the slightest idea how he got there. Byakuya x Hisana.


**Well...what can I say. I wrote this quite a long time ago... but I always thought it wasn't good enough to publish. I always thought it was too much like all my other stories... but, well... review! And please tell me what you think! Reviews make me really happy. For you anonymous readers out there, your opinion is greatly appreciated too :) Thank you to a certain special someone (you know who you are) for persuading me to publish this xD**

**Train stations have always been so cool to me :D but, this story turned out completely different... anyways... Join the Byakuya x Hisana club! We got T-shirts! And if you're already in it, YAAAAAAY! Love you guys ^^ PEACE OUT!**

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><p>Byakuya Kuchiki stood in the train station.<p>

He didn't know how he got there, but now he was there, and for some reason, wearing a classic black suit and tie. The chatter of many people rose and fell in volume as his ears threatened to burst. It was like being inside a giant drum, as the air reverberated with sound. So loud… the rumbling of huge black metal monsters crashed in his ears as they hissed and blew steam. A train station..? He had never heard of it. How did he get here, even? The "trains" looked menancing and it was hard to believe people could actually muster up the courage to walk in its belly.

He glanced around, as people, young and old, jostled around, a few of them shooting him admiring looks. Most of them were just flat wallpaper, vapid and boring. Just the background, no one of importance, simply filler needed until the main event came. Except the main event came too early.

Byakuya had seen many, many people in his life. But he had never seen anyone like her. She stood out amongst the crowds of people, her in that simple white dress and battered backpack, old and worn, the canvas rubbed bare in some places.

She was thin, and her skin was as pale as his. She had ebony black hair that looked as if it was silky smooth. It kissed her cheeks and fell into her eyes. Her eyes. As clear and bright as a summer day, more beautiful than he had ever seen. Such a startlingly shade of violet, that bore holes through him, challenging him, breaking off his emotionless mask. This would not do. He was _Kuchiki Byakuya, _after all. And yet she had the power to make him tremble, make his knees buckle, with nothing but a glance.

Hisana.

It was funny how just one word could make his heart hammer against his chest like a frightened bird trying to escape from a cage.

She had been standing off to the side, her gaze distant. She looked so different from the others, no, she _was _different. The way she stood, faithfully straight, and her stick thin figure, she looked as if she would shatter into a million pieces if someone so much as poked her. And the thing that stuck out the most, was that she was barefoot. He could see her thin ankles. It was strange that she could remain there, as fragile as she was, in the middle of the bustling city life, the train station. Her eyes looked somewhat unfocused, like the eyes of princesses dreaming of their princes.

And, without meaning to, he had said hello to her. Her, of all people. His heart felt funny, as if it was trying to do jumping jacks. And then she smiled. Or at least, that's what he thought it was. It struck him with such a powerful force that it took all his self-control not to crumble beneath her feet. This. Would. Not. Do. Kuchiki Byakuya, powerful and almighty. Taken down by a frail, simple commoner who looked so much like a ghost, strangely faded like an old photograph and yet with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

Of course he started in surprise when he saw her face twist in pain, her eyes becoming clouded with sorrow. And yet she still stood, as straight as a board, her thin ankles straining to hold up the weight of her entire self. Strange. He had felt as many emotions today then what he would ever feel in a normal month. Perhaps today wasn't as ordinary as he thought. Byakuya advanced towards the girl, wanting to help, to do _something_, but he did not have the slightest idea what to do. This girl, she had caught him off guard. That was something no one had accomplished in over 5 years. She stood out as a peacock might in a sea of penguins.

Hisana clutched at her head, trying desperately to rid herself of the shadows that kept breaking her, twisting inside the dark places in her heart. She could see the man from earlier walk hesitantly towards her, then stop. Please get away from me, she thought. There was no telling what she would do until she regained control. This has been something that will stay with her forever, a ghastly constant reminder of the things she lost, will lose, and what she could have found, but lost anyway.

Wouldn't it be simply better to be gone from this world? Rukia would be freed; and Hisana would be freed of the suffering that bit and chewed at her. She had no one in this world, not anymore. She would cause no grief, no tears whatsoever. And that's exactly what she wanted. To stop hurting people… she was too different. Not normal. A freak, a monster, a girl who could not love.

The whistling of the train grew louder and louder, and the floor rumbled beneath her feet. An easy way to die… nothing to do but jump off the edge, hit the tracks and wait for the wheels of the train to crush her into oblivion. The train could not stop, it would break her like brittle glass. A worthless way to die…. For a worthless life.

Hisana slowly walked towards the edge, her footsteps heavy, as her heart pounded violently, trying to fulfill a lifetime's heartbeats before the end. Death itself did not scare her. It would be a relief, but only-

Would Rukia still scream at her? Scream at her for dying a useless death? But, as she tells herself each time, she wants more than anything in the world to find the courage to free Rukia of the burden she has been. _This is the end, _she repeats over and over in her mind. It chases away the waking nightmares… She's doing this for Rukia. Maybe then she'll find refuge in this cruel, cruel world.

"Hey, what is she doing? There's a train coming!"

Byakuya's eyes widen to an unimaginable size as he realizes, with a sickening jolt, what she's about to do.

"_No!"_

The cry is torn from his lips, and drowned out by the deafening sound of the train. He did not even know himself that he could produce such a heart-wrenching, desperate shriek. He runs, on impulse, his legs carrying him, faster and faster and faster….. please, let me reach her in time.

And then, her scream. A long, drawn out scream of utter and pure agony as she falls. His fingers grasp at the empty air, just a split second too late. He desperately tries to grasp the last strands of her silky black hair. Too late…. Her scream echoes in his head, ripping apart his emotionless mask once and for all….. a scream like fingernails on chalkboard, only much, much, worse….

Kuchiki Byakuya, 28th head of the Kuchiki clan, his eyes opened and staring, the shock still rendering his body immoveable. A cold sweat covers his face, as he lies in bed on his back with the thick covers up to his chin. Suddenly feeling like there isn't enough air to breathe, he bolts upright, panting. He throws the blankets to the floor roughly, panicked.

After a while, he calms down, only to bury his face in his hands. He's trembling all over… _just a dream, _he repeats to himself again and again. His eyes linger on the cold, empty spot next to him. The bed is still _made_ for two, even though she gone… and he remembers that scream, that long drawn out scream that haunts him… he moans and gets up, walking to the bathroom, the tiles freezing cold beneath bare feet. He turns on the lights and the tap, splashing his face with cold water.

Then, he feels a sensation like someone is watching him. He thinks he sees her, a pale faded image of her, smiling at him with that hauntingly sad smile.

He looks frantically around the room, the mirror—but only his shocked, moon white face stares back at him. There is nothing there, just like there never has been. How many nights has it been now he wakes up from the same dream, or different variations of the same one. She's there, and he's there, but Hisana always slips through his grasp at the very last second, and he's always left clutching at the empty air. He's always too late…. And each time he dreams of a completely different world, but he can never even have her then. She's always just beyond his reach.

He slams his hand into the mirror, shattering it into so many smaller pieces. The reflective little pieces show him _her, _like a faint illusion captured between glass, a fantasy far, far beyond his reach. Like the story of the monkey and the moon. Only this time, he's the monkey, and she's the moon, beautiful, cold, cruel… smiling at him while time and time again, he drives himself to reach her, to feel her touch again.

And he'll keep trying, for as long as... for as long as he refuses to let go of her, for as long as he's _too late. _Because time is cruel too, and the balance, the _right on time_, is always just beyond his reach.

Every night he lays down to dream this dream and every night he wishes for the day to come when he will never have to wake up.

The cherry blossoms bloomed _late_ that year but she had gone, disappeared with that beautiful smile he had always loved

Much, much _too early._


End file.
